Bring us home, Malaysian family stranded in India pleads to Wisma Putra

Jetinder Singh and his extended family, aged from 7 to 74, are pleading to Putrajaya to bring them back home as soon as possible.

PETALING JAYA: An extended family of 16 Malaysians stranded in Punjab since Saturday is appealing to Wisma Putra to bring them and other Malaysians back home.

They were stranded in India after the Indian government banned international commercial flights into the country to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Jetinder Singh, 28 said he and his nephews, nieces, cousins, aunties, uncles and grandmother flew to Punjab from Kuala Lumpur on March 7, well before Malaysia imposed its movement control order (MCO) on March 18.

“For most of us, this is the first time travelling to India.

“We came here as part of a pilgrimage and sightseeing tour but it has turned into a nightmare,” he told FMT from his hotel room in Amritsar, Punjab.

The engineer said they were supposed to fly back to Kuala Lumpur on March 21 at 11.20pm, Indian time.

“But since March 17, we have been reading reports of flights to India being cancelled to curb the spread of coronavirus globally,” he said.

He said they contacted the Malaysian embassy in New Delhi on March 18 and gave their personal details and flight number.

After that, he said they did not hear from the embassy on their fate.

He said after being left in the dark, they went to an international airport in Amritsar on March 19 to ask for details on the flight they were supposed to fly back on but were told their flight had been cancelled due to the lockdown in Punjab.

Jetinder said they heard about Malaysian flights from Mumbai and Madras to Malaysia but “it would take us about 40 to 50 hours by car to reach there and we can’t make it with the lockdown in place”.

He said they went back to their hotel while waiting for word on flights. On March 23, the hotel staff told them the premises will be shut immediately due to the lockdown.

“We were then brought to another hotel by police, about 15 minutes’ drive away.

“The hotel is so run down and full of cockroaches. It is dusty and we cannot even go to the hotel lobby because two policemen have been stationed there to make sure we do not leave the premises,” he said.

Jetinder said his four nephews and nieces are aged 7, 10, 14 and 16 and are growing restless just staying in the room.

“My grandmother is 74 years old. She is asthmatic,” he said.

Their bills are piling up as the curfew has pushed prices higher. Their rundown room costs RM310 daily and each meal costs them RM200 to RM250.

“We brought enough money for our holidays and a little extra. But now the food and accommodation are so expensive. We are running out of cash,” he said.

“We are pleading to the government to help us fly back home safely as soon as possible,” he added.

FMT has contacted Wisma Putra in Kuala Lumpur where an officer said she had forwarded the details to the Malaysian embassy in New Delhi.

The officer had also asked the family to call the Malaysian embassy in India immediately to get further details.

Yesterday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced another 21 days’ curfew nationwide, which will see 1.3 billion Indians staying indoors.

India has reported 562 Covid-19 cases and 11 deaths so far. - FMT